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Our little summer kitchen

Since we live in Quebec and our summers are short, we try to enjoy it and spend as much time as possible outside. For 3 years now our yard has looked like a decent yard, before that it was just mud with patches of grass here-and-there. We love it now, even though there is still a bit of work to be done. I’m in no rush; I like to take my time and find what I love, that way I don’t regret my choices.

One particular project has been on the back burner for a while: our little summer kitchen. By summer kitchen, I mostly mean an extension to our barbecue area. We had no storage and even less space to cook on. We only had a small area for our project.

Stéphanie Morin
Lifestyle blogger
Natural wood and logs
Suspended lights
Cement
Little roof
Touches of black
1

My inspiration

I had in mind a simple summer kitchen, not too expensive and easy to build. I wanted something that fit really well with nature, and the outdoors. I was going for a more natural look, sort of industrial with raw materials, and sober colours.
2

The counters

The counters were entirely built with bags of cement.

We started by building the moulds. Their shapes corresponded to the measurements of the counter. We made ours 2 inches thick for a more robust look.

We then mixed the cement with enough water to keep the mixture quite thick and poured the concrete into the mould.

We let it dry 24 hours before unmoulding the counter and installing it on the cabinets.

While shopping, we also saw large slabs that can do the trick if you don’t want to pour the concrete.

3

The cabinets

When building the cabinets, we used the depth of our barbecue as a guide.

We removed one of the shelves from the barbecue and replaced it by a cabinet with cement countertop. Before starting, take the measurements of the area in order to make the most of it. You can then build the cabinets for the available space, according to your needs.

For our part, we wanted:

  • One large cabinet with a door to store our extra propane tank;
  • One cabinet with a door to organize utensils, dishes, and candles;
  • One open cabinet to keep logs for our outdoor fireplace;
  • A small cabinet to keep cloths and other accessories for cooking.
4

The roof and the wall

The roof was built with treated wood 4x4 as vertical support beams. The beams were held together by matte black braces. We then assembled the assembled 2x2 structure to the 4x4 beams. We hung a few lights and that was that!

In our case, we had a medium-sized wall made of solid cement blocks. We opted to build our kitchen around this space, but it can be put together near a fence or even in the middle of the yard.

We painted the wall black with heat-resistant paint.

Stéphanie Morin
Lifestyle blogger
On her blog, Stéphanie shares her interior design and renovation projects, her favourite fashion trends, and tips for being a mom of three boys. @chic.mom.in.the.city

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